News
World Bank to Nigerians: It’s no conspiracy! *You need years of pains to survive
Despite acknowledging the massive poverty in the country, with over 129 million affected, mostly traced to the current reforms under its recommendations, the World Bank is insisting that Nigerians must continue putting up with the situation and never think of reversing the ongoing policies of President Bola Tinubu.
Two key policies – removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol Tinubu announced during his inauguration on May 29, 2023 and floating of the local currency, the naira, which followed some weeks after, had plunged the citizenry into the type of hardship never witnessed in the history of the country due to the soaring cost of living.
But regardless, the Bretton Wood institution, is insisting that the policies must be sustained for years to come despite protestations in many quarters that the only visible result is more poverty in the land, adding that any reversal would take the country back to the starting point.
In a report released by the Bank on Thursday, detailing its findings and position, christened: Nigeria Development Update Report, which stated that over 129 million Nigerians are currently trapped in poverty, it also referred to the headline inflation that has forced millions into hunger.
“With growth proving too slow to outpace inflation, poverty has risen sharply. Since 2018, the share of Nigerians living below the national poverty line16 is estimated to have risen sharply from 40.1 per cent to 56.0 per cent. Combined with population growth, this means that some 129 million Nigerians are living in poverty. This stark increase partly reflects Nigeria’s beleaguered growth record. Real GDP per capita has not recovered to the level it was at prior to the oil price-induced recession in 2016,” the document, read.
It added: “The COVID-19 pandemic compounded this drop in economic activity. Moreover, growth is failing to outpace inflation: large increases in prices across almost all goods have diminished purchasing power.
“Multiple shocks in a context of high economic insecurity have deepened and broadened poverty, with over 115 million Nigerians estimated to have been poor in 2023. Since 2018/19, an additional nearly 35 million people have fallen into poverty, so that more than half of Nigerians (51.1 per cent of the population in 2023) are now estimated to live in poverty.”
The report also acknowledged the increase in the poverty index from 115 million in 2023 to 129 million in 2024, meaning that 14 million Nigerians have become poorer this year, which it attributed to the surge to inflation, poor economic management, and external shocks.
It said: “Several shocks have contributed to this major increase and changing profile of the poor: the COVID-19 recession, natural disasters such as flooding, growing insecurity, the high cost of the demonetization policy in Q1 2023, high inflation, and low economic growth.
“Previous domestic policy missteps compounded the effects of the shocks, particularly rising inflation, eroding the purchasing power, especially of urban households, pushing many into poverty. The government is ramping up the cash transfer programs to support economically insecure households to help weather the crisis.”
Revealing that while poverty remained a rural phenomenon, urban poverty had grown significantly, with 31.3 per cent of urban dwellers now living in poverty, up from 18 per cent in 2018, the report, added: “Being employed, however, is no guarantee of being able to escape poverty.
“Many jobs are not productive and therefore remunerative enough to afford a life beyond poverty. Jobs hold the key to sharing the proceeds of growth. Since Nigeria has a young and growing population, the jobs that can harness the country’s potential ‘demographic dividend’ are needed now.”
Alex Sienaert, now Lead Economist for Nigeria, while weighing in on the report, dismissed claims that the institution seeks to keep Nigeria economically dependent, saying: “I’m in this position of having been the lead economist at the World Bank here in Nigeria on economic policy issues for two years now, and I just want to tell you that I’ve not seen any conspiracy within the World Bank or otherwise to keep Nigeria down.”
He pointed out that Nigeria’s fiscal deficit had shrunk from 6.2 per cent of GDP in 2022 to 4.4 per cent in the first half of 2023, thanks to reforms such as the removal of FX and fuel subsidies.
Ndiame Diop, the World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, who urged the Federal Government to sustain its reforms, warning that reversing them would be disastrous, stated: “Reversing these reforms would be detrimental and would spell doom for Nigeria.”
Stressing that the reforms were difficult but essential to stabilise the economy, he noted that the World Bank was willing to offer Nigeria more loans as well as technical assistance in support of ongoing reforms, adding: “Yes, we do have in the pipeline for this fiscal year several projects financed by the World Bank. These are government projects, implemented mostly by the states.
“Nigeria is a very important partner for the World Bank. We have been providing technical support, but also financing. But what is really important is that our financing comes with technical support and implementation support, and really making sure things go according to plan.”
If 21 governors including Ifeanyi Okowa, running mate to Atiku Abubakar in the 2023 presidential election could lose their states in the presidential election and a “special magic” had to be performed to save Kashim Shettima, the Vice President from embarrassment of losing his home Borno State, nobody should lose sleep even if the entire governor of the 36 states empty into the same party.
This was the response of Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to the mass defection of political office holders including state governors into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in support of the re-election of President Bola Tinubu.
A guest of The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS television network, the former SGF, said nobody should lose sleep over the development as electoral victory resided with the people and not the governors or any other political figure, as they were incapable of influencing anything.
The former SGF said the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, is a committed and active member of the group championing the coalition campaign to wrest power from President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027.
Lawal, also took a swipe at governors and political leaders from the North West, who recently endorsed Tinubu, saying their was no basis for doing so since their zone has remained the most ravaged by activities of criminals in the mode of terrorists and bandits, adding all they did was to lie and deceive the people.
His words: Most of the politicians that are defecting to APC are probably driven by the desire to safeguard their stomachs and to safeguard their luxurious lifestyles that they had acquired while in government, using the people’s money. To them, it’s okay. They can go that way because that’s what they chose to do.
“As for defections, I saw a study last week that showed that 21 governors could not deliver their states to their preferred candidates, which means that the governors have little influence on the voter at the polling unit. Yes, within the party platforms, they have their influences. They can rig the party primaries. A Senator for example who is out of favour with his governor is endangered in that sense because the governor might not give him his return ticket. He could just order everybody not to vote for him.
“But no governor can influence the voter. Take for example, Delta State. The Vice-Presidential candidate for PDP was the serving governor on seat. But he could not deliver. Peter Obi beat them flat. In those days, they will say he lost deposit. In Borno State, it is well-known that the Vice President could not deliver Borno State to the APC until they did magic on the result so that he’s not embarrassed.
“But he knows, the voters know that he was disgraced woefully. So, defection is nothing. It is just the character of the person. Somebody without character will easily abandon you when his interest is threatened rather than when the interest of the masses are threatened.
“So, that is my position, we’re not bothered about defections. It will continue to happen. In 2027, we’ll go to the polls and we’ll see the result. People from the North West shamelessly gathered themselves, drank tea and coffee and said they endorse Bola Tinubu. To do what? “There’s no place in the North West that is safe. The poverty level in the North West is so huge and so terrible, much more than anywhere else. If their so-called leaders choose that it is the path they want, then, good luck. But everybody knows that they’re just liars. They’re deceiving themselves and they’re deceiving their own people.
“If somebody from the Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kaduna, says he’s endorsing Tinubu because his security policies are working, he’s a shameless liar. Whatever induced them to say that is between them and their God and their conscience. But Nigerians know that it is not so. Insecurity has now grown; in places it was not before, it has expanded. They have not done anything.
“This government should better not talk about insecurity. When talking about it, about the economy, it is exactly the same thing. The poverty has multiplied exponentially. Even those who were doing well feel now threatened because there’s no economy, it has collapsed, completely collapsed.
“We are just surviving by the grace of God on a hand to mouth basis, everybody. So what economy? They are putting money that doesn’t arrive in Nigeria before it is spent, even when it arrives in Nigeria, they spend it on intangible things that we cannot show, that are not visible, you know.
“Economy is not for this government, it is not their intention, their attention is to run down this country. That is their intention. But now, it appeared that he just deceived us in those days all along, and now he has gotten the power and is in the mood to ruin the economy, to ruin the security of the country.”
The former APC chieftain, also spoke about the coalition of political leaders in Nigeria to end the tenure of Tinubu, in which he acknowledged being deeply involved say the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had no place in it, having been infested with an “incurable virus.”
His words: “In all the meetings I’ve attended so far, nobody has ever bothered about adopting the PDP as the platform. We all agree that PDP has an incurable virus. No anti-biotics can cure what is ailing the PDP and we don’t want to go into a house that we cannot modify that is not willing to change.”
A truck heading to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital from Lagos, on Wednesday morning, reportedly lost control as a result of brake failure and rammed into the Isheri market at OPIC junction, along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
Channels Television reports that the incident led to the death of one person identified as a tea seller, while an unconfirmed number of people also sustained injuries from the impact, quoting an witnesses who was at the scene of the accident.
The source, a commercial motorcycle operator, was quoted as saying: “I’m the security man of this place. Every morning, I sit with my people before they open for the day because I work at night. I had just called the tea seller to give me tea, and I had only tasted it once when I heard loud noises.
“I stood up, and the truck pushed me and I fell. It’s God that saved me that I fell to the right side, assuming I followed the other side I would have died. The man who gives me tea is the one who died.
“While I was at OPIC bus stop roundabout, a container coming from Lagos reached OPIC bus stop. When he was coming, there was no traffic on the express, he didn’t have brakes when he tried to enter the estate, he then crashed into the market and killed a person,” the motorcyclist said.
The report, also said that emergency responders and local authorities have arrived at the scene and the truck driver has been arrested and held in the custody of the Isheri Tactical Unit as investigations commence.
“The army does not have the necessary equipment on ground to fight the insurgency. Right now, the insurgents are using drones to fight soldiers on the ground,” was the stark reality Babagana Zulum, Governor of Borno State, painted on Wednesday, to explain the current onslaught in his state, which has remained the hotbed of decades-old terrorism ravaging the North East.
Against the backdrop of the resurgence of activities of terrorist groups, particularly Boko Haram, which has been killing residents since 2009, Zulum, a guest of News Central television network, on Wednesday, said terrorists were now deploying sophisticated technology in their operations.
Bemoaning a situation in which the bureaucratic bottlenecks attached to the procurement of military equipment, had remained a major challenged, the governor insisted that the situation must be remedied urging President Bola Tinubu to listen to the army on what it required to end insurgency in the north of the country.
He added: “We must prioritise security. National and subnational governments must pool resources together to procure equipment. A few days ago, I visited the Chief of Army Staff. He said he is looking for about 32 drones and he would end the insurgency.
“My plea is that let us deal with this matter decisively. The President of Nigeria should listen to those that can distinguish between the right and wrong. Those that can tell him the right thing and not sycophants.
“He needs to understand what is happening on the ground. A few days ago, I said there is an insurgency in Borno state. I commended the federal government for doing very well and that we should come together to resolve the issues. Some people said there is no insecurity in Borno state. We should not politicise insecurity.”
Regarding the debate on state police, Zulum, who seemed not to be in support of the idea as the immediate panacea, maintained that the existing security apparatus should be strengthened rather than create a new policing system.
Tinubu is gone – Babachir *Shettima, Okowa, 20 govs lost their states in 2023
TRAGEDY! Ibadan-bound truck, loses control, rams into market in Lagos
BREAKING: Army lacks modern equipment to face terrorists – Zulum
-
News1 week agoBREAKING: Mass failure was our error – JAMB *Registrar weeps, declares fresh exams
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: Again, Soludo leads anti-Obi attack *Says, he left poverty in Anambra
-
News5 days agoUtomi to DSS: I’m heading home! Bullet or handcuffs, bring it on
-
News3 weeks agoI ended my wedding because he is gay, Ihuoma, ABC Transports’ daughter
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: Okowa speaks finally! I didn’t want Oborevwori to suffer like me
-
Columns3 weeks agoIf Dele Momodu is not Tinubu’s mole, then he’s not a patriot!
-
Columns3 weeks agoReno Omokri, Soludo, we know! Doesn’t Sanwo-Olu know Obi is naked fire?
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: Recall me back, I’ve apologised, Natasha tells Senate